How To Lose Weight With A Juice Fast

Juice fasting is a diet and detoxification technique that is becoming increasingly popular in this country. The basic method of a juice fast is to drink only raw fruit and vegetable juice for a predetermined amount of time. The most common lengths of a juice fast are 3, 7, 14, and 30 days. Since you are filling your body with nothing but high concentrations of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other healthy ingredients, you should lose weight. A side effect of juicing is that you'll also eliminate toxins from the cells in your body, boost your immune system, and improve your general health and well-being. Continue reading to learn how you can lose weight by doing a juice fast:

1. Buy a juicer.

To make your healthy juices each day, you'll need a high-quality juicer. A blender will work, but it keeps all the pulp and fiber in the juice and your body will be spending time digesting that instead of absorbing all the nutrients from a juice-only drink. There are two types of juicers currently on the market:

• Masticating juicer - uses a chewing-like process to extract the juice from the produce.

• Centrifugal juicer - uses a spinning basket with perforations to extract the juice. While some die-hard juicers have an opinion as to which type of juicer is best, they both are better than using a regular blender.

2. Start preparing for your juice fast at least 3 days in advance, preferably longer.

During these 3 days, you want to greatly reduce or eliminate your intake of processed foods, carbohydrates, and sweets. Try to eat only vegetables, fruits, and lean proteins. This will prepare your digestive tract for a juice-only diet, and it will help reduce the symptoms of detoxification, which are flu-like symptoms, headaches, and fatigue.

3. The day before, you should be ready to start the juice fast.

Make sure your juicer is set up and ready to go. Go shopping and buy plenty of fruits and veggies to make your drinks. If possible, only use organic produce when making your juice so you won't have any unnecessary chemicals going into your body. Some of the fruits and veggies you should have ready for your juice fast include:

• Kale

• Spinach

• Apples

• Cucumbers

• Celery

• Bananas

• Carrots

• Tomatoes

• Ginger

• Lemons

4. Replace all meals and snacks with a freshly prepared juice.

For the duration of your juice fast, you will only drink freshly prepared fruit and vegetable juice. It's best to make the juice and then immediately consume it. If you have to prepare it ahead of time, fill the container to the top and cover it with an airtight lid. The less air that can get to the juice, the less it will oxidize. When the juice oxidizes, precious enzymes are lost.

Try to limit yourself to no more than 2 fruits per juice, since your goal is to lose weight. This is because fruit is higher in sugar and calories than vegetables. Having more fruit will cause your blood sugar to spike and make it harder for your body to release weight. But don't let this limit you. Make sure you mix it up a bit and try different combinations of veggies and fruit to experience the wide range of delicious tastes and get plenty of different nutrients into your body.

Also, you can drink as much juice as you want. So, if you're having a craving for something sweet, simply make some juice and drink it until the craving is gone. There are countless juice recipes online and in your local library. Or, just be adventurous and create your own concoctions.

5. Continue to drink water.

It's very important that you continue to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day while on a juice fast. You need this water to help flush out the toxins that are being released from the cells in your body. You also need to keep your body dehydrated because you'll use the bathroom more often.

6. Break your fast gradually.

After you've completed your juicing fast, you should jump on the scale and see how much you've lost. Depending on how long you fasted and what your starting weight was, you could have lost anywhere from 5 pounds to 50 pounds!

Your digestive system has been taking a rest and hasn't had to do much work during your juicing fast. So, it's extremely important that you introduce solid foods back into your diet gradually. Otherwise, you could get sick. The first day after your fast, replace 1 meal with raw fruit, and drink juice for your other meals. The second day after your fast, replace 2 meals with raw fruit and/or vegetables, and drink a juice for the remaining meal. On the third day, replace all of your meals with fruits and veggies. Now, slowly reintroduce other solid foods, one at a time, into your diet. This is the perfect opportunity to stick with healthy foods and never bring junk food back into your diet again.

Exercising While Fasting

Since you are interested in weight loss, you're probably wondering about exercise. The thing is, you should limit your physical exertion while on a juice fast. Since you aren't consuming large quantities of carbs, which turn into energy, you may quickly run out of steam if you try to exercise. Some people do walk a bit while completing a juice fast, but nothing more strenuous than that.

As you can see, a juice fast is a great way to detoxify your body and rid yourself of excess weight. Drinking healthy juice made of fresh produce is like giving your body a big shot of pure vitamins and minerals. While the detox process can be difficult, you'll feel better than you have in years at the end of your fast, and you'll be thinner! 

As always, talk to you doctor, like one at Martin Medical Center, before starting any weight loss program.